


Healing While Hurt

by Onehelluvapilot



Series: Healer Lancelot [8]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Friendship/Love, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt Lancelot (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Protective Elyan (Merlin), Protective Merlin (Merlin), Protective Percival (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29758842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: Lancelot plans to heal Sir Gareth and Sir Bedevere, who were injured during a patrol. The problem is,  he's hurt too.
Relationships: Elyan & Lancelot (Merlin), Lancelot & Merlin (Merlin), Lancelot & Percival (Merlin)
Series: Healer Lancelot [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140281
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Healing While Hurt

"Lance, you can't do this!" Merlin tried to insist as the knight rolled up his sleeves, which were already soaked with blood, to lay his hands over sir Gareth's chest.

"I may not be able to, but I have to try," he replied. His voice already sounded worn out and pinched with pain. Merlin could only imagine how weak it would be after he exhausted himself further by tending to the other wounded knight. Knights, actually. Bedevere, who also lay injured upon the bloodstained earth, was equally in need of aid, and Merlin, Elyan, and Percival had no doubt that if Lancelot was still conscious after healing Gareth, he would attempt to fix the other man's broken bones as well. With no regard, of course, for his own health.

"It'll kill you!" Elyan protested. Lancelot was already badly hurt himself, with a long cut across his stomach and another down his thigh. Coupled with the energy expenditure that went into healing, there was a very good chance that he could weaken himself enough to simply fade away.

"And if I don't do it, both of them will die," Lancelot snapped back. Brows pinched in deliberation, he shifted a little on his knees so he could reach out to lay his hands on both Gareth and Bedevere at the same time. That way, he could heal both of them at once and hopefully finish before he passed out, or at least heal them enough that they would survive. Even if he himself didn't. "Please, my friends, don't try to stop me. I have to do this. I could not live with myself if I did not." Merlin wanted to shout at him that he, at least, wouldn't survive at all if his best friend traded his life for theirs. But the raw pain in his eyes, both physical and not, convinced him to allow it.

Evidently Percival and Elyan decided the same, since they both reached out to touch him but didn't pull his hands away from the other knights. Lancelot leaned briefly into Percival's large hand as it tenderly cupped his cheek and nodded lovingly at Elyan before closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and letting his magic flow.

The air around his hands glowed and became wispy with the power, and the blaze behind his eyes was so bright that they could see the purple glow even through his closed eyelids. Elyan turned away, unable to watch his friend kill himself like this, and Percival pulled him into his arms so he could hide his face against his chest. The larger knight, in contrast, felt that it was his duty to watch over his friend, even when there was nothing he could do to help. Merlin also watched as the glow behind his eyes began to fade, only to see Lancelot's face twist in determination and for the light to splutter back to life. It wasn't for long though, and after only a few more seconds the healer slumped over.

Merlin practically dove forward to catch him before he hit the ground, desperate to check whether it was into unconsciousness or death that he'd slipped. He cried in relief when he felt a light breath stir against his wrist, paper-thin and cold. If he hadn't felt that, he would have thought he was dead for sure, since his whole body was like ice. It felt as if in the face of his exhaustion and lack of energy reserves, he'd converted his own body heat into healing magic.

"Is he..." Percival asked fearfully. Elyan extracted himself from his arms to look over as well.

"He's alive," Merlin announced. "But not for much longer if we can't get him warm. I need both of you here right now." Instantly the two knights were by his side, reaching out towards their friend. "Percival, lay down. Elyan, help me here. Careful with his injuries." Together they gently shifted Lancelot over to lie pressed against his friend's chest so that he was carefully spooned from behind. "And El, you lay down with them too. He needs body heat." The smaller knight nodded and snuggled close to his friend, pulling his frigid hair and freezing face against his neck. Merlin took all three of their cloaks and tucked them in around them.

"Make sure you're not squeezing him so tight that he can't breathe, but do try to get as close to him as possible. I need to go gather firewood."

"Merlin, he... his wounds are still bleeding," Elyan said faintly. The servant winced at the reminder.

"I know, but we have to get him warm before I can risk unwrapping him from the blankets anyway. Just try to keep pressure on the wounds in the meantime."

Percival instantly moved one of his hands that was wrapped around Lance from behind over the bloody patch on his stomach. He pressed down hard, pulling the unconscious man further back against him. Lancelot didn't stir even a little, nor move at all when Elyan gripped his thigh in an attempt to stem the bleeding there. Merlin glanced back at them in worry before running off into the forest for firewood.

"He's so still," Elyan mused softly. "It feels wrong." Lancelot wasn't as squirmy as Gwaine or Elyan himself when he slept, but he did typically shift around a little. And usually when they held him, he'd return the hug and squeeze them or rub their backs gently.

"He'll be okay," Percival said. "He has to be." They both concentrated on the feeling of him breathing, trying to ignore the blood seeping below their hands. Elyan focused on the soft stir of lukewarm air against his collarbone and Percy felt the rise and fall of the man's back against his chest as his lungs filled and emptied. Thankfully it was very steady, if shallow. And he was just so cold.

Merlin returned in a fluster of energy and had a fire going amazingly quickly. Percival and Elyan moved Lancelot to lay on his side facing it, with the larger knight still tucked tightly against his back. He held onto both his wounds, even though his left hand was falling asleep from being pinned beneath his friend's body. Elyan and Merlin dragged Gareth and Bedevere over to the fire too, since they were both still unconscious as well and would probably remain that way for quite some time. Being healed used energy as well. Probably the only reason Lancelot was still alive was that not all the energy had come from him.

Aalthough Lance was still cold, Merlin deemed it critical to address his wounds, so they sat him up leaned against Percival's back still near the fire. He finally moved a little, stirring with a whimper when the wound began to be cleaned. It had stopped bleeding, though the amount of blood soaking his shirt already was concerning. It was the same with his thigh.

"Hey, shhhh, it's okay," Percy soothed when Lance whimpered with pain, though he didn't wake up. "It's okay, I've got you."

They laid him back down on a cloak when Merlin had finished stitching and bandaging the wounds, close to the flames again. Elyan also took a couple hot rocks out of the fire pit and wrapped them in cloth before tucking them in against him.

"Will he, do you know yet whether he'll be okay?" Percival asked.

"Not yet," Merlin admitted, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. "He's not getting worse, at least, and he seems to be getting a little warmer? If he wakes up, I'll be able to be more confident."

Percy nodded and wrapped himself around the curled up knight again. Elyan helped Merlin tend to Gareth and Bedevere. Lancelot hadn't managed to heal their wounds completely, but deep slashes had been turned to shallow grazes and where bones had been broken before only bruises were now found. This was actually somewhat fortunate, since it was easy to convince someone that their injuries just hadn't been as severe as they thought but much harder to lie and say that they hadn't been wounded at all. Gareth and Bedevere didn't know about Lancelot's healing abilities, and the others were going to do their best to keep it that way.

"Is Percival alright?" Gareth asked when he woke up and saw the large knight laying by the fire. From the angle he looked at them from, Lancelot was completely hidden by Percy's bulk. "I didn't see that he was injured."

"He's not," Elyan replied. "But Lancelot is."

"He lost a lot of blood and Percy is trying to keep him warm so he doesn't go into shock," Merlin explained more.

"Is it bad?" Gareth asked. Merlin and Elyan looked at each other, silently debating what to say.

"We'll see soon," the servant finally answered after a moment. Bedevere asked many of the same questions when he woke up not long later, and soon there were four men all sitting up around the fire, casting occasional worried glances at Lancelot and willing him to wake up.

"Should we send someone back to Camelot to fetch more men and a litter he could be carried on?" Bedevere asked as the sun was beginning to set. They would need it whether or not Lance survived, since he was too badly wounded to ride a horse.

"That's probably not a bad idea," Merlin said. Glancing around though, he realized there was no one to send. Percival couldn't leave, since he was needed in helping warm Lancelot, nor could Merlin himself go. Elyan wouldn't want to, in case something happened while he was gone. Gareth and Bedevere probably each could ride if hard pressed to do so, but it wasn't a good idea.

"On the other hand, one might not make it to Camelot before dark," he added. "We'll wait until morning, and then someone can leave at first light." Hopefully Lance would be awake by then, and Elyan could leave and go get help without fearing that their friend would slip away while he was gone.

Percival was beginning to fall asleep, since he was lying down and warm beside the fire. His worry for Lancelot, who was bundled snugly in his arms, kept him awake, but he was sluggish enough that the others noticed before him when the injured knight woke up. Lance's eyes blinked open before he stirred at all, the rich brown of them dancing in the fire light.

"Lancelot!" Merlin shouted happily when he looked down and noticed. Instantly he was around next to him, hand on his shoulder, which he used to shake him very gently when his eyes started to slip closed. "No no no no no, stay awake for me," he instructed. "Percival, help me sit him up." Lance groaned as they pulled him upright, Percy right at his back for support the whole time, but at least the pain woke him up some.

"Ow," he grumbled, letting his head fall back against his friend's broad shoulder. Merlin laughed, until Elyan glared at him for being insensitive. "I'm sorry Lance, I know it hurts. It's just so good to hear your voice. You had us all scared."

"S'rry." His voice was a little slurred, and those dark eyes of his were confused. They brightened when he looked across the fire to Gareth and Bedevere, a smile breaking across his face. "You're 'live!"

"Yes, they're fine, not badly hurt," Elyan agreed. "You, on the other hand, are injured, very much so. Sit still, okay?" Lancelot hummed in agreement, before a shiver wracked through him. Percival pulled a saddle blanket up over the two of them.

"Still cold?" He asked gently, receiving a nod against his chin in response. "Think you can drink some tea?" Merlin had found some wild garlic, which promoted blood flow and would help warm up him, along with some other herbs while he'd been collecting firewood. The concoction he'd made was rather pungent, but it was hot from being boiled over the fire, so Lancelot didn't complain as the servant raised the cup to his lips for him to drink. Percival's chest was also warm and soothing against his back, and he found himself drifting off again despite the not inconsiderable pain in his stomach and leg from the cuts he'd taken. Elyan took one of his hands, rubbing warmth back into it gently.

"C'n I sleep?" He asked. He could imagine that he'd worried his friends before, by passing out like he guessed he had, so he wanted to make sure it was okay this time.

"I'd like it if you could try to stay awake a little longer," Merlin said. "But if you can't, that's okay too," he reassured him, gently reaching out to push his hair back from his forehead. "We'll be here to wake you up."


End file.
